Hair Brained Scheme
by yornma
Summary: ** (Rewrite in progress- please see Hair Brained Schemes ) ** One false move landed her onto a desolate planet with a empty tank and heavy damage to her beloved ship. Thank goodness she had a back up plan. Everything was in place, the only thing she didn't expect was how quickly she ended up back on Knowhere in a bar. Action/Adventure/Drama
1. Chapter 1

Title: Hair Brained Scheme  
>Summary: One false move landed her onto a desolate planet with a empty tank and heavy damage to her beloved ship. Thank goodness she had a back up plan. Everything was in place, the only thing she didn't expect was how quickly she ended up back on Knowhere in a bar.<p>

Action/Adventure/Drama (Yondu, Kraglin, Star Lord/Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, OC) Starmora

**Author's Note: This is my first GOTG fanfic, comments, flames are welcome. Just no plasma guns please. :) Bonus points to those who pick up on a non-GOTG reference.**

[A week after the events on Xandar]

"The Spathi is approachin'" Kraglin announced from his position.  
>" Let 'er board." The leader of the Ravagers said, watching as the black and red ship approached. He had initially balked at the idea of one of his ships being modified like that, but after seeing it a few times, he was beginning to approve. Not that he would ever share that information any of his crew especially the Spathi's pilot.<br>He walked down the corridor towards the docking bay, the door slid open with a hiss and he allowed himself the slighted of smiles.  
>The rest of his crew didn't understand why he had let Quill live, he'd be damned if he explained why he had rescued the severely injured Onari girl nearly ten years ago.<br>They had been hired for a simple smash and grab to take the ore mined by the prisoners on K'nar IX to his buyer. In and out, they didn't count on the guards being lizard like humanoids, their normal gunfire didn't phase the creatures instead simple hand to hand combat with knives had to do.  
>It was in making their escape after killing the last of the surge of guards that he had felt eyes on him, turning he saw the soft glow of purple come from one of open cages. Letting out a low whistle, his trusty arrow flew from his side and towards the being. The soft red glow of his weapon illuminated the stone room enough for him to get a glimpse of the humanoid's silver skin darkened by shadows and bruises.<br>An Onari girl. She would be worth at least her weight in units if not more. He whistled recalling his arrow and strode toward the girl, picking her up, barely noticing the pool of purple blood near her body. She weighed next to nothing, completely limp in his arms.  
>Despite the curious glances he had passed her over to Kraglin.<br>"Boss?" he questioned.  
>"Get 'er to the infirmary."<br>It had taken nearly three weeks for her to be healed up enough to start her training. He found that he wasn't interested in using her for bounty after all, especially once she had not only disarmed one of his crew who had caught her trying to escape, but recalibrated his weapon making it useless.  
>Adra had proven her usefulness time and time again, between running errands or fixing weapons, hell even his engines had gotten a complete overall thanks to her. She one of the few adversaries the band of space pirates had left.<p>

He waited for the window on the cockpit to open, a silver skinned female humanoid wearing the customary red jacket associated with his crew climbed out. She pushed the grey goggles onto her spiked black hair, amethyst eyes narrowed toward a spot on the wing, balancing on the side of the cockpit she balanced gracefully to get a closer look at the offending spot.  
>Yondu threw the left side of his coat back and let out a low whistle, the arrow at his side came alive glowing red and slipping out of its holster. His whistle went shrill sending the arrow towards the unsuspecting victim.<br>At the very last possible moment she flipped herself off the damaged wing, dodging the arrow before ducking underneath the hull of her ship.  
>So the years of training with hadn't worn off , he thought letting a sly smirk play on his lips as he strode closer whistling as he went guiding the arrow underneath the hull towards its target.<br>It was their own personal little game, something he had started about a year after her capture/rescue. None of his crew wanted to practice sparring with her, she had already sent half of them to the infirmary with various cuts and scratches not to mention broken limbs. He had been slightly worried (not that he would ever admit it under pain of death) when the hand to hand training had started as she had seemed feeble then, but her speed and confidence grew with each fight. And those claws, they were more than capable of shredding through clothing and reptilian skin, it had taken him several days to 'teach' her to learn to retract them at will.  
>The air filled with energy and he saw the blue sparks shoot out from the cockpit.<br>"Tha ain't gonna work missy." he called out, amusement in his voice.  
>His ears picked up the sound of movement from behind him and he sent the arrow flying, there was a metallic clank and a sizzle behind him.<br>"Damnit Yondu."  
>He smirked, turning to see his arrow had punched a hole through her pole arm. "'ad enough?"<br>"Well now that my ship's gotta hole 'n in the size of a full grown gilrak and my weapon's damaged, yeah." She pulled a small box from the black bag hanging across her shoulder, " 'Ere's your damn relics 'n don't ever think of sendin' me out there again. Damn natives tried to skin me alive."  
>"'N I bet you showed 'em." He said taking a peek into the box, the blue glowing pyramid greeted him. He closed the box satisfied.<br>"Damn right. 'N blew a few of 'em off the planet." She grinned fiercely showing polished white fangs," now 'bout the payment?"  
>"Knew ya weren't gonna waste time getting' to it. Got some spare parts for ya we collected a few stops ago."<br>He led her down to the corridor back towards the bridge. Kraglin was the first to notice her and nodded to her, she nodded back. The others sneered, her hand gripped her pole arm.  
>The shrill whistling stopped her as the arrow came alive and encircling around the crew that was being rude.<br>"Need I remind ya we got a lady on board." Yondu sneered, "best behavior boys."

"Lady?" she scoffed pushing the grey goggles over her eyes as she began to solder the damaged wing of her ship.  
>"'ell he can't go callin' ya anythin' else." Kraglin supplied, from underneath her inspecting her repair job.<br>"Adra'll do. Been callin' me that since," she shrugged, continuing her repairs" no need to change it now. 'N why's he lettin' me stay any ways?"  
>"You'll 'ave to ask 'im."<br>The comm crackled in the docking bay alive, causing them both to jump.  
>"Kraglin, when yer done, yer needed." came Yondu's voice.<br>"Better go 'fore he starts whistlin'" she grinned.

It took her another hour before the repair job was finished and she had begun looking over the spare parts her former leader had given her. Some of them were useful, others nothing more than junk but it could be resold next time she decided make a supply stop. Dumping the useless parts into a box, she pushed them under the small table on her ship and stood, coming face to face with Yondu.  
>"Came to tuck me in?" she asked, playing off her surprise.<br>"Ya let ya guard down, missy."  
>"I might 'ave. So what did ya really want?"<br>"Can't I want to see ya?"  
>"Last time ya wanted to see me, it was after I failed a trade and as I recall ya tried to seal me in an engine coil."<p>

He grinned, "Ya always were to the point. Got another job for ya, this one 's a bounty hunt, should be easy enough since ya two hav' met 'n all."  
>"Oh? I've met a lot o' people. None of which were memorable."<br>"I need ya to find Pete."  
>"Lost 'im 'gain?" she smirked,"Ya sure ya want him in one piece?"<p>

"Ain't no one gonna hurt 'm but meh."

"It's a long way back." She said noted lightly, letting her claws extend purposefully.

"I want him alive, Adra. Not bleedin' out."  
>"A few scratches won't kill 'em."<br>"I'm payin' double for it. "

[A week later]

The sleek black and red ship twisted and turned avoiding one rushing asteroid after another, its pilot was gripping the steering wheel tightly. The ship jolted from impact turning violently to the left the unsecured cargo shifted banging loudly behind her.  
>Clink.<br>Clink.  
>Thump.<br>The ship jolted at the latest impact.  
>"Yer kiddin'." She grumbled as the console blinked notifying her that the thrusters had taken a hit as did the engine and right wing. Silver fingers grazed across the screen, pulling up a map of the nearest systems and found a desolate moon that would be suitable enough for a crash landing.<br>"Well, time for the back up plan." she thought to herself as she released the prerecorded distress beacon before guiding her disabled and smoking ship into the thin atmosphere of the gray moon.  
>A few minutes later the ship had skidded to a rather ungraceful<br>She was in one piece. The same could not be said for her ship.

All she had to do was wait.

She watched as he lead them out, throwing the metallic gadget in front of the rest of his crew a green force field popped up trapping them.  
>"What the hell?"<br>"Quill, Look out."  
>But it was too late he was knocked to the ground by a blow to the back of his neck. He grabbed the back of his neck, the other hand going for his gun, it was knocked out of his hand by a boot. He grabbed the boot and pulled, bringing its owner towards him, only to be met with a punch to the stomach.<br>"Oof." He said, sinking to his knees.  
>It was then he saw the flash of silver, before he could begin to try to remember her name, he felt electricity surge through his body.<br>"That was for stealing my core converter, "an angry female voice said above him, she stabbed him twice with the electrified pole arm again. "this is for taking the mining job from underneath me and stealing the design plans for the new engine."  
>"Ow, ow.. okay, okay," weapon jolted the name from the back of his memory," Adra, I get the point. "<br>"You're idiotic puns won't save you this time," she hissed using the pole arm to lift his chin up to face her.  
>She was about to say more, but was cut off when a flash of green came flying towards her, she ducked doing a quick roundhouse kick which landed Gamora on the ground.<br>"You weren't supposed to break out of that so easily, how did you –"she frowned in confusion, only to have something furry, black and red hit her, knocking her down to the ground.  
>"Gimme a reason not to blow you off the planet." Rocket snarled teeth bared, rocket gun in pointing at her.<br>She was unfazed by the gun in her face, peering at the side of it "You modified fuel injected engine rockets to create that gun, if you had used plasma convertors you would get a bigger explosion."  
>The raccoon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not used to getting such a calm reaction, but before he could open his mouth to ask about her suggestion, she was being lifted up by her ankles. Her pole arm dropped from her hand landing at Rocket's feet.<br>"Damnit! Leggo of me, you big oaf." she squirmed trying to get out of the grip that was on her ankles, but found it rather useless, giving up for the moment she hung upside down her red coat creating almost a cape around her shoulders and head. The creature took the distraction as a chance to exaimine her weapon.  
>"I am not an oaf, nor do I think it wise to let you continue your attack on Quill."<br>A crackling noise caught their attention as her pole arm shot blue sparks and hit the self-proclaimed Star Lord in the leg.  
>"Watch it with that thing."<br>Despite being upside down she giggled, watching as the raccoon continued to explore her weapon of choice.  
>"Don't press the purple button." She half warned just seconds before his paw hit it, the pole arm whirred and a blue plasma charge shot out barely missing Quill.<br>"Don't encourage him!" The half Terran shouted to her," Damnit Rocket, gimme that." He snatched the pole arm out the raccoon's hands.  
>"What? It didn't even hit you." the raccoon said defensively<br>Adra snickered.  
>"Nice to see someone found my near death amusing."<br>"Peter, are you alright?" Gamora asked concerned  
>"Yeah, not my first brush with death," he jerked his thumb towards the upside down captive," Not with that one any way."<br>The green skinned assassin shot him a look that would mean sudden death if he didn't explain. He opened his mouth but found himself interrupted.  
>"Oh, it wouldn't have killed you," the silver skinned woman replied lightly." it's a just photonic denebulizer."<br>"A what?"  
>"You made one?" Rocket asked incredulously.<br>"Yup," she grinned, cheerfully" Nearly blew myself up in the process, but it was worth it."  
>"What would you like me to do with this one?" Drax asked, holding her up as though inspecting her.<br>Gamora glanced at the woman and realization dawned on her, she had seen her species before,"Onari?"  
>"Yup, 100% per Onari. Why, what's it to ya?"<br>"Your species is extinct." the assassin stated.  
>"Our planet died, yes, but there were a few hundred that escaped annihilation, before Ronan started his rampage on the Kree and their outposts. Now if we're done exploring the history of my people, I would very much like to return to my upright position."<br>"Not yet." Quill said," What are you doing here?"  
>"Oh you know, just hangin' out" she replied calmly.<br>"You are not hanging. You are merely upside down." Tattooed man replied honestly  
>She rolled her eyes, returning her attention to the half Terran "My ship took a few hits thanks to a passing meteor shower."<br>"And you just so happened to send a distress beacon?"  
>"Yup."<br>"Right in our flight path."  
>"That was the idea." she said a bit too happily for Quill's taste.<br>"Did Yondu send you?"  
>She feigned surprise "What would make you think that?"<br>"Let her go." He sighed, resigned.  
>The tattooed man released the grip on her ankles. She gracefully flipped herself back on her feet.<br>"Thanks." she flashed a cheerful smile to the large tattooed man. Peter handed her the pole arm and she took it eagerly, doing a quick check to make sure it wasn't damaged before tucking it back into her jacket.  
>"You are welcome?" came the confused reply<br>"How much?" Peter asked  
>"75, 000 units."<br>Rocket whistled softly.  
>Gamora shot him a look that said 'I told you so'.<br>"Oh don't worry, he wants ya alive, but seein' as I'm at a disadvantage n' all, I'm willing to negotiate." She shrugged and smiled again.  
>"For what?"<br>"A ride to Knowhere for parts to fix the ship and fuel."  
>"And Fuel?"<br>"Either that or you can replace the core converter, hand over my engine plans and replace the units that the mining job cost me."  
>"Fuel it is." he agree reluctantly.<br>"Great, so when are we leaving?"  
>"Not before we establish some ground rules."<br>Everyone's eyes turned to him, both females raised their eyebrows at him. He already had a feeling this was going to be a long and awkward trip.  
>"No killing each other."<br>"What about-"  
>"No purposeful hurting, which includes scratching, clawing, biting and maiming." he supplied, ticking each subject off his fingers<br>She scowled "You're such a buzz kill."  
>"Who is this Buzz and why does he need to be killed?" Drax asked confused.<br>"Metaphor." Come the chorused answer.  
>"Those rules includes everyone." he finished fixed his eyes on Adra, despite feeling Gamora's eyes boring into his side.<br>"Fine." she shrugged.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I don't own GOTG, just my character Adra.**

**Chapter 2 is here! Only took me nearly all day to write it. If you have a chance please give me some feedback, I tried my best to capture the best I could.**

**I will admit I had a bit of fun.**

**T+ for some killing**

* * *

><p>Once a board the Milano, Adra settled herself down in front of the pile of parts Rocket had been working on, the raccoon eyed her warily, but to everyone's surprise said nothing instead going to check on the young sapling that was Groot on the upper level. Once he had assured himself the sapling was cared for, he quietly climbed downstairs leaving the other three in silence.<p>

Quill all but flopped into the pilot chair, relieved that the worst had passed, or so he thought until he felt the assassin's eyes on him. Gamora hadn't said a word to him, since they had taken off and she had been silently awaiting an explanation.

Just as he began to relax and input the coordinates of their destination, something metallic clanked below them and rattled. He cringed, maybe it wasn't a good idea to leave Adra and Rocket together, especially not near the spare parts the talking raccoon had managed to take from his ship. He hoped he could trust her for the four day journey to and from Knowhere.

He heard Rocket laugh, then another metallic clank.

"Please tell me they are not tearing up my ship". he said more to himself.

"I will check on them." Drax volunteered and disappeared below. Once he was gone, Peter allowed himself to address the situation at hand.

"It's not what you think it is."

Silence.

"Look, I know I've been less than... reputable in the past. But nothing has or ever will happen between Adra and I. Though I did steal from her a few times .." he confessed honestly," I ended up sleeping in the engine room of Yondu's ship as punishment."

"You don't learn."

He shrugged,"As I said, it's one of my issues."

"She's a Ravager?"

He frowned for a moment before answering, "For the most part. She takes jobs from time to time, spending most of her time on planets salvaging scraps and raw materials. She did design their engines and weapons, so she's like a Stephen Hawking of mechanics."

"What is a Stephen Hawking?"

"He's a very smart person."

She nodded, seemingly satisfied with his explanation." She is quite... unique."

He grinned, "Yeah, just watch out for the claws though."

"Did she injure you?"

"Just a few scratches."

* * *

><p>Rocket had reluctantly retired to his room, taking the sapling Groot with him, who was already sleeping. She insisted that she could finish modifying his guns, tinkering with the adjustments and recalibrating a few of the settings.<p>

As she sat there staring at the weapon, she unscrewed a few of the metal plates wondering if there was a way to make it lighter somehow. It was the least she could do after adding some additional weight with the plasma charger.

Adra felt the tendrils of sleep -or was it exhaustion?- trying to rob her of her consciousness. She shook her head as if that would keep it at bay. It crept up again this time just a bit more insistent, tugging at her vision making her eyes go blurry for a moment.

She bit her lip her fangs overlapping her bottom lip as she let the pain register, chasing away any thoughts of rest. She was going to finish it damnit... just one more adjustment and it should hold.

Thirty minutes and several more adjustments later she had it. Grinning in triumph to herself, she sighed. Running her hands over her tired eyes she closed them for a moment, mentally going over the parts she needed to repair her ship and wondering exactly how much she would be able to extort out of Quill for fuel, a dark memory stirred in the back of her mind. Something long forgotten, crept forward and threatened to overwhelm her. She would have to blame it on the mention of her species near annihilation earlier that day- afternoon-evening-?

The silver skinned woman frowned to herself, trying to remember what time it actually was. The ship had long since gone quiet aside from the soft hum of the engines and the slight hiss of the air units switching on every so often, she very much doubted anyone was awake at this time. Pushing the thoughts of her past from her mind forcefully. She carefully unfolded her legs from her sitting position, moving to stand to her full height stretching her arms over her head, eyes closed grasping at the air above her, unsheathing her claws involuntarily. They made a loud clink noise against the metal air vent. She started at the noise, opening her eyes only to find herself in an eerily familiar cramped metal cage.

The blood in her veins turned cold and she shuttered as the sounds of pleading cries and screams of terror filled her ears. She covered her ears with hands trying to block it out, but found she couldn't. The remains of her people were all locked in 4x4 wire cages. They had survived the destruction of their planet only to be caught and rounded up and caged. Several had died from their wounds, the rest were being held here, in what could only be described as a large cave like room that only served as an amplifier for the screams of torture.

"I have heard that the Onari are a proud and resourceful people." a voice boomed in front of her,"What a shame to have aligned yourself with the enemy. You shall pay for your transgressions in blood, starting with your leaders."

A hooded figure stepped into her line of view.

"Bring them forward, let them be an example."

Four guards who had no faces escorted two familiar silver skinned figures - her parents- towards the hooded figure. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears loudly, for a moment she was afraid the others would hear.

"You will pay for your crimes against the Onari, Ronan." Her mother spat toward the Kree.

The blue skinned man laughed for a moment and then reached out his long arm and smacked her across the face, she crumbled to the ground. Anger rose up and before Adra could even stop to process exactly what she was doing, her claws tore through the metal as she hurled herself towards the large man.

"I doubt your species will survive long enough to do much of anything."

She was caught just before reaching him. Another few steps and she would have clawed his eyes out.

"Don't you dare hurt them, y-you monster!" she cried voice filled with anger.

"What would you like me to do with this one?" the female humanoid with a metallic voice asked, holding her firmly

The Kree man's lips curled into a vicious smile "Since this one is so eager, let her watch"

She tried to pull away from her captor, but found herself very much restrained, cold metal fingers on her chin forcing her to look ahead. She met the eyes of her father, who looked at her with sadness.

"Let this be a lesson to those who dare oppose me. Xandar will pay for their crimes against my people as well as those who stand in my way."

He rose his silver weapon and it came down with a crushing blow and a sickening thud, the purple blood oozed from her mother's lifeless body.

She screamed, struggling, her claws trying to find purchase but there was none.

Another muffled thud, the hand on her chin let go as she looked down and saw the blood oozing toward her feet...

* * *

><p>A blood curdling scream tore through his consciousness, he jolted awake. His mind racing trying to place the voice behind it. It was coming from the main deck, Adra had been there tinkering with one of Rocket's guns she hadn't even noticed him walk by.<p>

Adra.

He cursed, throwing back his covers and racing down the hall. By the time he had gotten to the lower deck, everyone was already there, staring at the woman writhing and whimpering on the floor.

"Drax, would you mind holding her down?," the stout giant of a man nodded, crouching down to the prone figure," Watch out for the -"

Before he could get a firm grip on her wrist, she wriggled out of his grip, getting to her feet, amethyst eyes snapped open, they were alert but glazed over.

"You murdered my parents," she growled swiping at Drax

"I did not -"

"Where's her bag?"

"Quill?" Gamora asked blocking one of her punches and dodging another.

"D'ast, you idiot, there better be a good explanation for this-," Rocket growled, ducking as her claws came mere inches from missing his fur "Watch it those things, will ya?"

"Drax." The half Terran nearly pleaded, "Where's her bag?"

"I don't think this is the time to -"

"_Her bag._" he insisted with urgency as Drax grabbed her wrist and then the other, she growled with rage. Then the idea came to him.

"Rocket?"

The raccoon ducked a kick, "What?"

"She was with you all night."

"And?"

"_Rocket,_" the green skinned assassin hissed impatiently, following Peter's train of thought as she moved to help restrain the crazed woman's legs that were flailing.

"What?"

"Her bag." came the chorused answer.

"You just want to suck the joy out of everything."He sighed, pulling the black worn bag out from underneath the bench, reluctantly handing it to their leader.

Quill dug into it frantically, until he found what he was looking for, a small metallic container with four vials of red liquid. It looks like blood, he thought grimly pulling one of the vials out and twisted it, a needle sprang forth.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered to himself," Hold her still." the man nodded and proceeded to tighten his hold on the thrashing woman.

He jabbed the needle into the side of her neck.

The effect was nearly instantaneous as Adra stopped struggling and became deathly still.

Quill breathed a sigh of relief

"Did you-?"

"No, it's just a sedative," he frowned for a moment, looking at the now empty syringe" Or at least I think it is."

"You _think_ it is?" Rocket questioned dubiously

"Look, it's not like I had time to form a plan. Unless you wanted to fight her all the way to Knowhere."

"I, for one did not." Drax volunteered solemnly.

"Glad to know someone's on my side."

"Nor did I." Gamora confirmed

He gathered her carefully in his arms, her head lulled limply to the side. He felt a tad guilty for being harsh with her, but he had saved her from tearing up the ship as well as his crew.

"Where are you taking her?" Gamora asked as he began to walk away.

He froze for a moment, not having thought it completely through, still he had to take her somewhere. Who knows with the effects of whatever it was would wear off, he might have been a dick but he wasn't going to leave her laying on the floor of the ship.

"To my room."

She scoffed.

"You want her in yours?"

"No."

"Okay then." he said proceeding towards his bunk with the unconscious woman. The door slid open with a languid hiss. He placed her on the unmade bed, waiting for a moment until he saw her chest rise and fall evenly

Well, she wasn't dead, that was good.

He stepped out of his room to the questioning looks of his team. He brushed past them on his way towards the ladder heading topside then stopped as if having a second thought,"Someone probably should stay with her in cause she wakes up."

"_If _she does." Rocket supplied, Peter glared at him," What? You said-"

"I _know_ what I said, look, just trust me on this, besides this isn't the first time this has happened."

Gamora's eyebrows went up.

"When I was still with the Ravagers, we had a job to collet raw materials from a mining colony, one of the guards got a bit rough with her, she cut his clean head off and nearly gutted me in the process. It took four Ravagers to hold her down before they were able to subdue her," he shrugged,  
>" Yondu told me it had something to do with her experience on K'nar IX."<p>

"Ronan had taken many Onari as prisoners there, he killed what remained of them." the green assassin supplied quietly.

"I cannot imagine the horrors she might have experienced." Drax commented.

Peter nodded solemnly.

"Yeah well boo hoo, we've all lost things, doesn't mean she won't be any less pissed when she wakes up."

"Perhaps you should stay with her then, she would be less likely to retaliate." Drax suggested.

"Oh no, you are not-"

"Rocket."

"No."

"Rocket, she modified your guns."

"And?"

"And you were going to steal her bag."

"_I _was merely checking it for useful parts."

"The last thing we need is for her flip out like that again."

"She did not flip."

The raccoon puffed his fur out for a moment, ears flattening against his head. They watched for him to blow up, but instead he replied,"If anything happens to Groot while we're in there, I'm going to blast her off this ship."

"Fair enough."

He grabbed the small silver pot that held the sentient sapling and walked into the room, mumbling to himself .

* * *

><p>She was no longer in the cage, she was drifting, floating as consciousness came to her slowly .<p>

She felt safe, the familiar hiss of the air vent went off, she was on board the Milano.

Something moved to her right, a huff and then sound of metal parts clinking together

Soft music floated into the room. A song? The words were faint, but the rhythm familiar.. somehow. She frowned trying to place where she had heard it before. Her thoughts were sluggish at best and her eyes were refusing to open.

"Stop it would you?" an annoyed voice said

There was a soft "ah" noise above (?) her

"Yes, I know it's hers."

Another "ah" noise

"No, I'm not going to break it."

She heard the faint rustling of leaves above her.

Who was messing with her stuff? She tried to move but found her body still non responsive. She cursed inwardly. Trying again to open her eyes, they finally fluttered open and bright blinding light caused her to groan softly, turning her head to her right closing them.

Something was placed over her eyes, she opened them again and everything was filtered through grey. Someone had mercifully placed her goggles on her eyes.

"Thanks." she slurred

"Figured you could use them."

She tried to focus on the figure to her right, but her vision was still blurry. She could only make out a shadowy outline of something small in the chair next to her.

"I didn't hurt anyone did I?"

There was a moment of silence, her heartbeat quickened, fear began to creep into her.

"Other than Quill whining about the damage to his ship, no."

She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Something rustled softly above her, she moved her head, grimacing slightly feeling a painful twinge in her neck, she looked up and saw the sapling known as Groot looking down at her with dark eyes. He smiled at her, swaying back and forth to the music.

She couldn't help but smile a little at the dancing sapling. Turning her head back to the being on her right, she watched silently as he was intently messing with her forcefield generator.

He felt her eyes on him and gazed back at her evenly, "What?"

"Nothing."

He puffed his fur out, but returned his attention to the object.

She listened to the soft sound of the music playing, sincerely hoping that Peter wasn't mad at her for any permanent damage. Not that she couldn't fix it, it was just a matter of when and right now she was lacking of any type of energy to do much of anything.

She let her head sink further into the pillow, closing her eyes, letting the music lull her into a dreamless sleep.

Beside her, Rocket shifted in his spot still focused on figuring out how exactly she had managed to built it in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

The tendrils of sleep was still tugging at her consciousness, but she forced herself to become more aware of her surroundings. She sensed movement to in front of her, then heard slight humming, fingers drummed the edge of the chair to the beat.

Opening her eyes, they adjusted quickly to the light, she saw the half Terran there lip syncing to his Walkman, drumming his fingers to the bed.

"Came to sing to me?" she quipped, when he noticed she was awake.

"Actually I was checking to see if you were still alive." he replied somewhat honestly.

"Seems that I am."

"Damn. I was hoping not to not hold up my end of the bargain."

"Not a chance, " she smiled," How far away are we?"

"About 2 hours, give or take."

Her eyebrows went up, "Well damn, he wasn't kidding when he said it was potent." to Peter's confused frown she supplied," Yondu had that sedative custom made. It took a few failed experiments and some broken bones to find the right dosage."

He cringed at the mention of broken bones.

"Oh, they weren't mine." She smiled disarmingly, fangs showing.

"I can imagine."

She shrugged, "They deserved it for trying to use me as bait on a job. "

"Huh, I guess I wasn't the only one he was trying to kill."

"Oh, that wasn't Yondu's doing. The boys decided to improvise on the plan a bit. Things went to shit quickly after that, don't remember too much after that, I get glimpses here and there but nothing solid, it's almost like watching a badly scrambled holo transmission."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them.

"You had me worried."

"The fearless Star Lord worried? That's a new one." she snorted, and stood slowly not trusting her own legs. He got up and reached out an arm to steady her.

She smirked as a thought crossed her mind.

"What?"

"Bet it's the first time a woman was in your bed and you weren't."

His face turned crimson, looking down he rubbed his neck,"Yeah, about that -"

"Don't. "

He looked up at her, she scowled

"Yondu would behead the both of us. Besides, you're more the annoying sibling type any way," she shrugged, walking a few steps towards the door.

"Thank you, by the way."

He shrugged

"Peter?"

"Hmm?"

"Next time, not the neck."

-Knowhere-

The supply gathering was successful if she said so herself.

They settled into the bar easily, Drax and Rocket going off to betting tables.

"Well, that was successful." Adra smiled into her glass filled with turquoise liquid.

"If by successful you mean robbing me..."

"Oh please, I cut you a deal, if it wasn't for me those Rotarans would have robbed you blind. Those scrap pieces were hardly worth 3,000 units. "

"But you had me pay," he whined

"Did you _want_ me to take you back to Yondu?"

He looked down into his drink sullen.

"That's what I thought. Besides, those trinkets we got the Unati shop will keep him off your tail for a little while at least."

Gamora smirked to herself, as much as she didn't want to admit it, this Onari woman had quite the effect on Quill and she was beginning to like it.

There was a racket and then Rocket's loud drunken voice above the music. Quill went to get up, Adra put a hand on his arm.

"I've got this, besides I've got a new gadget I wanted to test out." she smiled slyly.

Before Peter could even begin to ask, she was already halfway across the bar.

She strode over to the boisterous raccoon and saw that he was arguing with two large reptilian creatures

"-ain't no one's pet!"

"But, Rocket, darling, what about us?" she pleaded pitifully, batting her eyelashes.

The outburst had the desired effect as the men and the drunk raccoon turned towards her. He blinked in surprise.

She took the moment to grab him by the collar and began to pull him away.

"D'rast, are ya crazy woman?"

Before she could utter a reply, one of the reptilian men moved in front of her.

"This one with you?" one of them asked her jerking his scaly appendage towards the creature. He wiggled in her grasp trying to escape, she let her claws out enough to grip the material of his collar tighter, he cursed.

"Unfortunately," she apologized sweetly," he's really just being friendly."

The being was less than convinced. "He was making a pass at my girlfriend."

She looked around the him at the pink skinned female who had black bulbous blank eyes, the 'girlfriend' blinked three times, Adra noticed the two sets of inner eyelids and the scales.

She wrinkled her nose," I can't account for his taste when he's drunk."

"Why you-"

A fist came flying through the air and she ducked, missing the connection but not the spikes that slashed her coat.

"Damnit." she growled looking at the damage for a moment before putting a boot into the creature's stomach.

Rocket took the opportunity to pull out of her grasp, leaving her nothing with shreds of his collar in her claws.

The reptilian recovered fairly quickly making a move to head butt her.

"So much for playing nice." She reached with her left hand to the right side of her coat, grinning fiercely as she pulled out her pole arm, it crackled to life. She connected the sparking blue end to the man's head and he yowled in pain. Dropping onto the ground, the smell of smoked flesh hit her nostrils and she crinkled her nose. Two of the reptilians friends rushed at her and she pushed the button on her weapon letting it shoot blue plasma at them, knocking them both down.

"Tha outta teach 'em." came the drunken smug reply. He lifted his gun and heaved it onto his shoulder.

She twirled, facing the smaller thug, tucking her pole arm back into her coat.

"Hey, ya wanna blow this joint?" He slurred, beady eyes glistening.

"Not with you." she growled softly, pulling a small flat disc from the inside of her coat. With a flick of her wrist the disc flew and landed at Rocket's feet.

"Wha-?"

Before the creature could move forward he was encompassed in a blue spherical forcefield. It hummed with electricity, his gun dropping on the ground.

"D'astard, lemme go." he howled, realizing he was trapped.

"Nope." she said with a smile of satisfaction, stooping down to pick up the metallic disc, she tapped into it, the blue sphere containing the raccoon, who was now shouting obscenities in every language he knew, lifted into the air and hovered.

Adra watched in amusement for a moment, a few of the bar patrons gasped recognizing the phrases the crazed raccoon was saying. She grazed a silver finger over a green triangular button on disc and suddenly there was silence. His teeth still bared and mouth still moving, but there was no sound.

"Much better."

She walked quickly to where Gamora and Peter were sitting and handed him the disc.

"You can let him out when he's no longer intoxicated. Just push the red button," she instructed handing Quill the contraption before turning on the heel of her boot and walking out.

The half Terran was speechless as the sphere holding the hostile raccoon floated near him.

"Thanks?"

-  
>She soon found herself near the docks and boarding the Milano.<p>

The sapling made a happy "ah" noise as she poked her head through the upper deck.

"Still not back yet?"

The sapling swayed its small branches back and forth.

"I don't see the harm in turning on his music." she pressed the large black button and music filled the ship.

The sapling smiled and began to sway to the music. Adra stayed there for a moment watching the small sentient tree dance happily before moving to the lower deck, determined to get as much of her work done before there were distractions.

A few hours later she was making some coffee in the small kitchenette when they returned to the ship. Gamora nodded to her and she returned it, the assassin climbed up the ladder to the main deck. Peter looked slightly disturbed as the forcefield containing Rocket floated behind his head. The raccoon had settled somewhat, leaning/sitting against one of the sides his eyes closed.

Drax watched the orb hovering near the leader's head with something something like amusement

"Glad I could provide amusement for someone." she said softly, stirring the instant coffee into the hot water.

"He is contained and silent. For which I am thankful" the warrior admitted.

Peter headed towards the ladder the orb following him. Adra leaned against the wall and sipping her coffee.

"I'm sure Groot would be upset to see him like that, so you may want to just put him in storage for a bit."

"Right." Quill said, uneasily. Changing directions and walking past her.

"Don't look so disturbed, I paid the bartender for the damages before I left."

"I know." he tapped the code into the keyboard on the small storage closet. It hissed open and he took the disc that controlled the orb, tapping the controls, the orb moved slowly into the storage unit and towards the ground. Dissipating as it planted the unconscious raccoon onto the ground. She watched idly, drinking the rest of her coffee. The door hissed closed and a very relived Quill faced her.

He made a move to hand her the disc.

"Keep it. You may need it again."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't plan on running into too many gun obsessed short tempered creatures were I'm going."

He grinned, "He'd rip your arms off for saying that."

"He can try," she shrugged," But, seriously keep it. Glad to know it works."

"You never tested it?"

"Not until today. I would say it's pretty successful. Don't worry about him trying to get out of it. It scrambles any type of scanner. After seeing him disable my other forcefield so quickly I decided to add the extra feature."

"Thank you?"

"It's the least I can do for you putting up with me for four days."

"I've put up with worse."

"So I've noticed." she said, finishing her coffee.

She was back to tinkering with the remains of the parts she salvaged from the forcefield generator and the parts they had gotten on Knowhere. If she was able to solder a few of the pieces together she would be able to get the wings repaired quicker. She frowned immersing herself in her work.

She heard a shuffling noise behind her.

"Done being pissy?"

A soft growl was the reply

"I take that as a 'no'," she replied and put down the pieces she was working on, turning around to face him, his ears were pinned back and his eyes bloodshot "Look, I didn't enjoy containing you like that, but something had to be done before you levelled the place. And let me tell you, the penal system on Kyln is a cakewalk compared to Knowhere. You'll be lucky if they don't give you more implants."

His eyes narrowed at the mention of his implants, but his curiosity got the better of him about the mention of the penal system.

"Ya've been there?"

She nodded solemnly, pulling her shirt over her left side, revealing jagged purple scars that ran from her stomach to side, to his wide eyes she explained " Bite marks, three prisoners and a guard decided to see if I was 'tender' enough for a stew, nearly bled out too. And that's definitely not a place you want to get an infection either."

"How'd ya get out?"

She pushed her shirt down," I rigged up a communication device and called the Ravagers."

To his questioning look she shrugged," They at least have an infirmary, the treatment I was getting was barbaric at best."

She turned back towards the wires and cords, leaving the creature to stew in his silence.

It didn't seem long before the shuffling returned. She ignored it, pushing her goggles over her eyes and rubbing them.

"Groot said you've working since you left the bar." Rocket said behind her, voice hesitant as if he wanted to ask something but didn't know how.

"Oh?"

"Yeah.."

"What is it Rocket?"

"I - well, um, Groot he uh-"

She turned to see the raccoon was at a loss for words, he looked down at the floor. His eyebrows furrowed.

"What did Groot suggest?" she asked gently, probing him.

"He suggested that you should bunk with us tonight." he mumbled almost inaudibly.

"That's really sweet of him."

"It is?," his ears perked up, looking at her in astonishment, then he regained his composure" I mean, of _course it is_. But it's not like he could say it himself, so he asked me to relay the message. So, yeah."

"Well, tell him I said thank you for the offer."

His ears fell to the side of his head and a look of something close to disappointment crossed his features," Oh okay." He turned to return to his shared bunk.

She nodded sincerely, standing up and stretching, a few things popped and she let out a sigh.

"Actually."

"Yeah?"

"I'll tell him, myself."

A smile cross the raccoon's face and she found herself smiling back.

"Try anything and I will skin you alive."

"I might like that."

She rolled her eyes,"You are incorrigible."

They agreed on a few rules, shirts for one and no accidentally knocking Groot off the nightstand.

She wiggled out of her red coat, gray overshirt and black pants. Slipping into the small bed wearing a gray tank top and he curled up on the pillow next to her.

A few hours later, she felt a warm furry presence press against her chest, absently petting the creature. A faint rumbling noise came from him.

She smiled

"Tell Quill and I'll kill you." he muttered, but continued to purr.

"Deal." she replied sleepily.

The way trip back to her ship seemed a lot shorter, but then again she actually got some rest instead of pushing herself. She had to admit it had been some of the best sleep she had since longer than she could remember.

No nightmares, just simple undisturbed sleep.

She knew that Rocket had slept as well she had because he wasn't as trigger happy the next morning and helped her solder the remaining pieces of scrap metal to fix her ship.

It wasn't long before they landed on the deserted moon. She said her goodbyes to each member of the team.

Drax in the form of a handshake, which was so strong her hand stung slightly.

Gamora got a one sided hug, surprising the assassin.

Rocket was holding Groot's pot, she patted the little sentient sapling gently.

She bent down taking the pot from the racoon's hands, running her fingers through his fur. He closed his eyes for a moment and a faint noise came from his throat. She smiled, slightly when he opened his eyes she saw something in them she hadn't seen before.

"Geez, you're makin' a scene." he mumbled softly.

She ruffled his fur, standing up. Rocket looked away from her picking up Groot's pot, the little sapling gave her his best "please don't leave" look.

"Sorry little guy, can't stay. But I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Peter led her out.

"Take care of them."

"Take care of yourself."

"I always do."

He smiled and went in for a hug, she hugged him back.

"I'll give Yondu your regards," she chuckled at his panicked expression, then it turned serious,"I mean what I said about your crew. Take care 'o 'em."

He nodded

"And Quill?"

"Yes?"

"Make a damn move already, "she tossed him a grin before the door closed.

He frowned confused.


End file.
